ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has joined the international community in condemning Israel’s provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Tuesday by the far-right national security minister, warning that violating the holy site’s sanctity could escalate tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Al-Aqsa is a holy site that Muslims all over the world revere. While expressing her condemnation of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Wednesday, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated, “Violating its sanctity offends the religious sensibilities of Muslims and inflames an already tense situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
She deemed the Israeli minister’s visit to be “insensitive and provocative.” She continued, “Israel must respect the sacredness of Muslim religious sites in the occupied Palestinian territories and cease its illegal actions.”
She emphasized Islamabad’s stance on the issue, which calls for the establishment of a viable, independent, and contiguous Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions, while reiterating Pakistan’s support for the Palestinian cause.
Palestinians mull next moves
In the meantime, agencies add, Ben-Gvir’s tour sparked protests from across the Arab world and raised Western concerns about long-standing agreements regarding non-Muslim access.
Following the Israeli minister’s recent visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, which has so far been met with harsh words rather than violence, Palestinians in Gaza are holding urgent talks regarding their next steps.
There have been worries that Itamar Ben-Gvir’s controversial visit might start a war.
The Gaza Strip’s ruling Palestinian organization, Hamas, had previously warned that such a move would be a “red line.”
According to sources within the movement, Hamas and other militant groups held emergency meetings to discuss a “proportionate” response hours after Ben-Gvir’s appearance at the sensitive location.
In a related development, prominent ultra-Orthodox Jews who support Israel’s coalition government criticized the minister’s visit to Jerusalem’s flashpoint holy site on Wednesday, adding to a slew of international criticism.
Itamar Ben-Gvir was criticized by one legislator for “goading the entire world.”
Moshe Gafni, a senior lawmaker from United Torah Judaism, said in parliament, “It is forbidden to go up to the place of the Holy of Holies.” He was referring to a portion of the Jewish temples that stood at the site in ancient times and was off-limits to the majority of people.
Ben-Gvir had been advised of this, Gafni claimed.
He stated, “There is nothing to be gained from just goading the entire world, except for the aspect of religious law.”
The three nations that just recently established diplomatic ties with Israel were one of them: Bahrain, Morocco, and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Washington, on the other hand, expressed concern that it might “provoke violence” and recalled Ariel Sharon’s visit to Israel in 2000.
Source: Dawn News